“A RESEARCH ON CONSUMER INFLUENCE BY REFERENCE GROUP IN A COGNITIVE MEASUREMENT ABOUT OTOBI FURNITURE”

1. Introduction:
Otobi began its long run journey in 1975 when painter & sculptor Nitune Kundu set up a small workshop with an even smaller budget. The only thing he was rich in was his passion, creativity & his gut feelings. Over the years Otobi transformed in to a solid brand, known for its superior quality furniture & choice of designs, with operations across many cities.

Today Otobi, backed by world class business processes, is a name that celebrates the creative genius of its founder, a brand that is going beyond boundaries of imagination & a workplace that inspires the finest designs.

Day by day Otobi is becoming a legacy in the history of Bangladeshi furniture market and they are expanding their market over the boundary of Bangladesh They are doing business now a days globally the fact is there promise of world class furniture is being kept in the market. Their full of innovative and modern product line is enriching our home, office and so many places.

Though competitors are emerging in the market but the name “Otobi: World class furniture” is still being kept and that is why Otobi is holding the highest market share in the furniture industry.

2. Objective of the study: ❖ Broad objective
To make ourselves familiarize with customers attitudes and their reference group and how they are influencing while buying products from Otobi furniture’s. ❖ Specific objective
The specific objectives of this research paper are: ❑ To know about the attitude of the customers. ❑ Who are their reference group in terms of Otobi. ❑ How they are influencing them.

3. Literature review regarding reference group:
Reference group means a Group, class, or category of people to which individuals believe they belong, whether or not they actually do. Their relationship to their reference group may influence their buying behaviour.

In 1902, in Human Nature and the Social Order, Cooley offered discussions relating closely to the concepts of reference group theory. Cooley discussed how individuals took on various mental or psychological interpretations of themselves based on how individuals thought others perceived them.

If we think about Cooley’s opinion we can find the similarities in our daily buying behaviour. We always want to buy those things which will be appreciated by our family members, friends, colleagues & others to see our selves special & gorgeous in their eyes. We have already found it on our research that most of the people buy something on influence of the reference group & they also share with us that most the time their decision about what to buy totally change when family members, colleagues or friend suggest them to buy some another thing which they have used already & said some positive words about that products. In case of Otobi furniture most of the sample said they were influenced firstly by their family members in case of buying furniture, some of them said friends & colleagues were behind on their buying decision.
4. Methodology:
Basically our research design was based on qualitative research. We have taken in depth interview and focus group discussion with our respondents. We have also made a questionnaire for our respondents to know who their reference group are and how they influence them.

5. Data collection:
For conducting this research we went through some data collection methods. For collecting primary and secondary sources we went through the following procedure:

❖ Secondary sources:
Secondary data was collected from different published sources like newspaper, journal, and internet. The secondary data was scrutinized after compiling from the sources.

❖ Primary sources:
Primary data and information was collected through observing the respondents behaviour, and by oral investigation. Majority of information was collected in a structured questionnaire and interview of the respondents.

6. Data analysis:
After collecting required data those data it was tabulated and it was analyzed by different statistical tools such as average, percentage and ratio analysis. It was fruitful for us while interpreting this data.

This analysis was made with careful observation and while doing this statistical analysis we used manual and automated tools for our work.

Now let’s turn our attention towards the analysis part of our research.

❖ Research results that we found through our survey from the respondents:

✓ Users of Otobi furniture
1. Do you use the furniture of Otobi?
a) Yes b) No

|Yes |84 |
|No |16 |

Answer:

Explanation:
From our survey we can see that the user of Otobi furniture is 84% where the opposite one the percentage of non user is 16%.

✓ Satisfaction regarding Otobi 2. Are you satisfied with the furniture of Otobi? a) Very satisfied b) Somewhat satisfied c) Neither satisfied or dissatisfied d) Somewhat dissatisfied e) Very dissatisfied

|Very satisfied |36 |
|Somewhat satisfied |36 |
|Neither satisfied or dissatisfied |24 |
|Somewhat dissatisfied |4 |
|Very dissatisfied |0 |

Answer:

Explanation:
From our conducted survey we can see that the satisfaction rate of the respondents regarding Otobi is 36% very satisfied, 36% people somewhat dissatisfied, neither satisfied or dissatisfied is 24% and somewhat dissatisfied is 4%.

✓ Preferences of the reference group
3. In case of buying Otobi furniture what kind of reference group do prefer?
a) Opinion of the family b) Opinion of your peer group c) Opinion of your work mate/working group d) Opinion of the virtual community e) Opinion of any brand community

|Opinion of the family |36 |
|Opinion of your peer group |36 |
|Opinion of your work mate/working group |24 |
|Opinion of the virtual community |4 |
|Opinion of any brand community |0 |

Answer:

Explanation:
How many respondents will prefer the opinion of the reference group? Here we can see that 36% will go with the family, 36% take the opinion of their peer group, 24% from their colleague and 4% from the virtual community.

✓ Features of Otobi
4. What features do you like most about Otobi furniture’s?
a) Attractive and innovative design b) Reasonable price c) Environment friendly

|Attractive and innovative design |52 |
|Reasonable price |36 |
|Environment friendly |12 |

Answer:

Explanation:
What features are likeable to the customer of Otobi? 52% likes their attractive and innovative design, 36% prefer their reasonable price and 12% voted for Otobi is environment friendly and that is why they like it.

✓ Usage of different category of products
5. Which category of product do you use of Otobi furniture’s?
a) Home Furniture b) Home appliances c) Home decor d) Office furniture

Answer:

|Home Furniture |72 |
|Home appliances |16 |
|Home decor |0 |
|Office furniture |12 |

Explanation:
From our survey we can see that 72% respondents of ours uses the home furniture of Otobi, 16% uses the home appliances and 12% use the office furniture of Otobi.

✓ Importance of Otobi’s innovativeness
6. Otobi always develop their product line with innovative and eco friendly features. Do you think it’s important? a) Extremely important b) Somewhat important c) Neither important or unimportant d) Somewhat important e) Not at all important

Answer:
|Extremely important |60% |
|Somewhat important |28% |
|Neither important or |12% |
|unimportant | |
|Somewhat important |0% |
|Not at all important |0% |

Explanation:
From our survey we can observe that respondents of 60% think that Otobi’s product innovation is extremely important, 28% says it’s somewhat important and 12% thinks that it is neither important nor unimportant.

✓ Continue the usage of Otobi products
7. How likely are you going to continue using the products of Otobi furniture’s?
a) Definitely will continue b) Probably will continue c) Might or might not continue d) Probably will not continue e) Definitely will not continue

Answer:
|Definitely will continue |40 |
|Probably will continue |36 |
|Might or might not continue |20 |
|Probably will not continue |4 |
|Definitely will not continue |0 |

Explanation:
From our conducted survey we can see that the 40% customer will continue using the products of Otobi, 36% will probably continue it, 20% might or might not continue the products of Otobi and 4% customers will not continue the products of Otobi.

✓ Reference to others to buy Otobi products
8. Will you refer some one to buy Otobi products?
a) Definitely b) Probably c) Might or might not be d) Probably will or not e) Definitely will or not

Answer:
|Definitely |40 |
|Probably |36 |
|Might or might be not |20 |
|Probably will or not |4 |
|Definitely will or not |0 |

Explanation:
From the survey we can see that 36% consumers will be a reference group and refer others to buy Otobi products, 24% will probably suggest, 20% will might or might not be suggest someone, 12% will probabably suggest and 8% will not suggest others to buy Otobi products.

✓ Ranking of Otobi
9. Please rank the following furniture’s company by placing ‘’1’’ the one you like most, ‘’2’’ next to your second preference and continue. a) Otobi furniture’s b) Akhter furniture’s c) Hatil furniture’s d) Navana furniture’s e) National furniture’s

Answer:
|Otobi furniture’s |52 |
|Akhter furniture’s |28 |
|Hatil furniture’s |12 |
|Navana furniture’s |8 |
|National furniture’s |0 |

Explanation:
From our survey we can see that Otobi is the number one furniture of Bangladesh 52% people thinks that. 28% customer thinks that Akhtar is 2nd. 12% people think that Hatil is 3rd and 8% people thinks that Navana is 4th.
7. Findings:
From our conducted survey we have found some of the findings. Those are: a) Many customers of Otobi are still not satisfied with the products of Otobi furniture. b) Family opinions of buying Otobi products are more than other reference group. c) Otobi has a good mindset among the customer though there are other competitors in the market. d) After the interview and survey we have found out that customers of Otobi products expectation is high about Otobi.

8. Recommendation:
It is great time we had working with such a practical customer reference group related topic. On the basis of our research we have some recommendation regarding Otobi. That is: ✓ The product line of Otobi should be more structured and it should improve their design more. ✓ The longevity of Otobi products should be improved. ✓ More innovative and environment products and advertisement should be promoted. ✓ It should maintain their market position carefully and effectively because new competitors are emerging in Bangladesh.

9. References:

The references we used to make our research are given below:

Interviewee

Questionnaire

Field survey

10. Bibliography:

----------------------- Fig 1: Users of Otobi furniture

Fig 2: Satisfaction regarding Otobi

Fig 3: Preferences of the reference group

Fig 4: Features of Otobi

Fig 5: Usage of different category of products

Fig 6: Importance of Otobi’s innovativeness

Fig 7: Continue the usage of Otobi products

Fig 8: Reference to others to buy Otobi products

Fig 9: Ranking of Otobi